Bengals Dropped to 0-7; Next Up, the Cowboys

The Cincinnati Bengals would like to think this is as bad as it gets. Then they take a look at their schedule.

“You wonder when you hit rock bottom. The Dallas Cowboys are coming into Cincinnati next week,” Coach Dave Shula said Sunday after the Bengals let a promising first half disintegrate into yet another loss, a 37-13 beating by the Cleveland Browns.

Cleveland (6-1), off to its best start since 1963, trailed, 13-10, after Cincinnati played two of its best quarters of the season. But the second half showcased the Bengals (0-7) at their bumbling worst, a continuation of the Keystone Kops routine that has plagued their special teams all year.

The Browns turned the game around with a 17-point third quarter that featured consecutive touchdowns on Cincinnati punts. Eric Metcalf returned Lee Johnson’s punt 73 yards for a touchdown less than two minutes after Travis Hill recovered a blocked punt in the end zone.

The Bengals lost for the 15th consecutive time on the road and remained the NFL’s only winless team.

The Browns have quietly built their best start in more than 30 years--quietly, because they haven’t yet beaten a team above .500 at the time they played.

Quarterbacks on both sides took a beating. Cleveland’s Vinny Testaverde left complaining of headaches and blurred vision early in the third quarter, and the Bengals lost David Klingler to a sprained knee and Don Hollas to a shoulder injury. Testaverde’s injury was diagnosed as a mild concussion.

Mark Rypien, signed by the Browns last spring to back him up, completed only eight of 18 passes for 103 yards.